Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
About
This compendium includes significant criminal cases by the U.S. Supreme Court & N.C. appellate courts, Nov. 2008 – Present. Selected 4th Circuit cases also are included.
Jessica Smith prepared case summaries Nov. 2008-June 4, 2019; later summaries are prepared by other School staff.
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The trial court did not commit plain error by admitting for illustrative purposes a Facebook picture of the defendant and an accomplice in which the defendant’s middle finger was extended. At trial the State called a detective who testified that the victim showed him a picture of the defendant and the accomplice on the defendant’s Facebook page for identity purposes. The detective printed that picture and it was admitted at trial for illustrative purposes, over the defendant’s objection. The trial court properly admitted the photograph pursuant to G.S. 8-97 to illustrate the detective’s testimony that the victim used the photograph to identify the defendant and his accomplice. The photograph was properly authenticated and the trial court gave a limiting instruction as to its use.
In this armed robbery case, the trial court did not err by admitting photographs for illustrative purposes. The photographs were admitted solely to illustrate the testimony of witnesses and the trial court appropriately instructed the jury. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that photographs admitted for illustrative purposes must be authenticated in the same manner as photographs admitted as substantive evidence.